1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate generally to a method for determining, in an automated fashion, which images within a web page should be made part of a sprite.
2. Description of Related Art
As is known in the art, web pages may include text, images and various other media. Generally, images are retrieved from a web server individually; i.e., each image requires a separate request/receive transaction with the web server. These multiple transactions can impede the speed with which the page loads, which ultimately may affect adversely the experience of the user.
One known method used to reduce the number of transactions with the web server with regard to images is to pool multiple images into a single image, called a sprite. In this case, only one request/receive transaction is required to retrieve the sprite, which can be “sliced” at the presentation layer such that only part of the sprite is displayed in any one location on the web page (e.g., one image within the sprite may be shown at the top of the web page, and another image within the sprite may be shown at the bottom, etc.).
A problem with the sprite method is that the determination as to which images will be sprited, and with what other images, generally is worked out manually, which can be labor intensive; also, the generated sprites usually are typically not readily amenable to necessary or desired modifications (e.g., when an image to be used is changed slightly, or when an image within a sprite is no longer used at all).
Thus, it may be desirable in some instances to automate either or both the decision process regarding which images to add to which sprite, and the generation of the sprite and associated presentation-layer rules governing the presentation of the images within each sprite.